


Trust well Earned

by dan_vs92



Series: Fiddleford-Appreciation-Month 2017 [5]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Emotional Abuse, Human bill, M/M, Manipulation, gross human bill at that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-03-05
Packaged: 2018-09-28 13:19:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10102556
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dan_vs92/pseuds/dan_vs92
Summary: Bill came unannounced to see the progress of the portal, as he usually does.





	

He had announced his presence early that morning, well before day break. Fiddleford had just gotten himself and Stanford to bed, his husband spooned against him when the pounding at the door came. 

Ford moaned and moved to get up but Fidds kissed his fingers and whispered he would get it, please go back to sleep. Ford grunted a protest but he was back to sleep the second Fiddleford’s feet had hit the ground and he tightened his robe on to keep some of the chill off him as he made his way out of the bedroom. He was always somewhere between a proper gentleman and a hillbilly his husband often complained, always bare foot in their home having a strong dislike of slippers and wool socks but he always took the time to wear a decent robe over his boxers and wife beater he wore to bed. 

He knew who it was and that sense of dread made him take each step as slowly as possible. The pounding growing and more and more impatient with each second he let stretch. 

He paused on the last step and considered just turning around and going back to bed, leaving him out in the cold on this ungodly hour, praying he would just leave and never return. Free them from the shackles they had willingly placed on their own wrists. That was a foolish thought, they wouldn’t be free until he decided they were and not a second sooner. 

He gathered his courage and took a deep breath, he glanced at the clock ticking loudly from the kitchen, three thirty am and he already had to deal with this man. Lord give him strength… 

He didn’t know why he was wasting anymore time looking through the peep hole since he knew very well who it was and what he wanted but he needed those extra few seconds to prep himself to deal with the man who not only owned this town but owned them. He got a brief glance of the tip of his hat and his inhuman yellow eye being pressed against the hole before he finally clicked the locks open. 

Just as he grasped the door knob, the stout man on the other side had beat him to the punch of opening the door, smashing him hard against the wall making him gasp in pain. When he began to push the door away, he felt it smash against him once more and Bill chuckle loudly on the other side. 

“Didn’t see ya there, Fiddlesticks, yer just one of those forgettable faces, ya know?” 

Fidds ignored the comment as he shut the door firmly behind the short, plump man dressed like he was Mr. Peanut. Fidds recalled a time when he could snicker behind this man’s back at his pompous attitude and his lack of inside voice but that had all changed over time. 

Fidds, after months of dealing with this man’s constant criticism of everything he did from the words he said to his mannerisms unchangeable now from his southern upbringing to his work that was never good enough. 

Ahead of him, leaning bored against his cane, inhuman eye looking intently at his pocket watch, mouthing his own ticking noises growing louder every second. 

“Hurry along, Fiddlesticks, I ain’t got all day for your antics.” 

Fidds stared at the man’s wilted yellowing skin trying to keep his eyes from that eye that haunted his dreams. Despite his appearance, Bill was human. It was rumored the rough, scale like skin came from him pouring acid on himself (though he tried to claim it happened during an accident to garner some sympathy from his husband) and while Fidds could believe that, he felt there was more to the story. Considering the things Fidds had seen him showing his husband while he was hidden in the shrouded door way, maybe his appearance was from a deal with the devil. Your physical form for ultimate power was a small price to pay. 

A snap broke him from his short reprieve, he flushed hard realizing he had been staring intently at the man who’s smug smile was now showing off his jagged teeth. 

“Admire me later, fiddlesticks,” he paused chuckling at Fidds disgust even stepping closer to him to pat him on the cheek in a condescending manor, enjoying the way Fidds jumped back in disgust. 

He turned towards the stair way and continued his train of thought, “Where is Sixer? I don’t really have much want or need from the likes of you, I need the real genius who is actually capable of making change. Not someone only here to take demands.” 

Fidds bit his tongue and kept his head low so he didn’t see his pain while he got a hold of himself with a few deep breaths. 

“You came unannounced after a long night to meet yer dead line. He is asleep, I will slow you what you want to see so you can be on yer way.” 

Bill’s smile dropped and his ire was becoming known. Fidds gulped knowing he was treading on thin ice, but boldly stood his ground, knee quivering faster with each syllable he uttered. 

“We’ll do it your way then Fiddlesticks,” he said in an eerily calm manor tapping his cane against the ground filling the air with a low clicking that grinded against Fidds’s nerves. 

“I know my way,” he stated that smug look creeping back into his eye, Fidds turned his head away seeing his razor-sharp teeth peeking out from behind his wilted lips once more. 

Fidds merely nodded, hands beginning to shake as he followed behind the man who had been making his life hell for well over a year now. The portal down stairs was their bargaining chip out of this life of servitude for the man who funded their projects, including he and his husband’s most ambitious project to date, a university to share their findings and teach a new generation about the strange world hiding in the shadows around them. 

Ford’s passion for the strange and unknown had always been contagious, he took him by the hand and slowly adjusted his life to it and made him love it just as much as him. The man he shared an elevator ride with, just took his passion and turned it back into fear of what resided beyond his view of sight. 

Though Fiddleford had no proof and even his husband told him it was his imagination, he felt the reason the shapeshifter had turned on him the way it did last month and nearly killed him was because of the man casually whistling before him as they descended further into the lab. 

With his nerves on edge as they were the loud dinging noise Bill had to do once the door opened made him jump and grind his teeth. He just wanted to show this man their progress and get him out of their home as quickly as possible so he could go back to bed. 

Fidds ground his teeth harder as Bill knocked his personal computer prototype onto the ground with his cane, off the blue prints he had been working on a few hours earlier. 

“You changed my plans.” 

“They were unstable---“ 

Bill silenced him with his glare as he tore his plans apart before his eyes and threw them in the trash bin. Fidds heart sank, all that planning and calculating, gone forever. 

“My plans were exact and unnegotiable as I told your husband, my calculations were not to be tampered with but really what should I expect from someone of your background. Pigs don’t take directions well, so neither do their handlers.” 

His smile brightened at Fidds open display of pain and shrugged as he added, “Really, what is the difference though.” 

He firmly poked Fidds with his cane making him stiffen, “Get Stanford down here immediately, fiddlesticks, I want to talk to someone with some level of intelligence who won’t ruin my designs or argue with me about them because they are too stupid to---“ 

“That’s quite enough of that.” 

Through a mist of tears that were beginning to cloud his line of sight, Fidds saw Stanford himself standing behind them, not looking very amused to get out of bed to this. Bill set his cane back down on the ground and smiled walking away from Fiddleford, ignoring him once more setting his sight on his husband.  
“I was just talking to Fiddleford here about my plans, it seems he ruined them once more. I have been telling you from the start sixer, this man is not to be trusted around our work. He just—“ 

He paused at Ford’s annoyed glare wordlessly telling him to stop. Fidds had only seen this look on his face after he found him the way he was, unable to speak or move, after the shapeshifter incident. 

He had only used an annoyed tone with Bill then as well when he demanded to know why he wanted him to get back to work when his husband was so unwell. They needed time, his health was more important. 

“I think you should leave Bill,” Ford said and when Bill didn’t move he took an intimidating step towards him and growled, “Now.” 

Bill smiled playing his game for now, “Your house sixer, a proper guest like me will leave when asked.” 

His smile grew as he ‘accidentally’ bumped into a small table and knocked over some Bunsen burners and glass vials making Fidds jump onto the desk behind him to avoid stepping the glass spilled near him. 

“I’ll be back when you have calmed down and we can discuss this in a more civil manner.” 

With that he left them with the mess. Fidds knew this wouldn’t be the last they saw of him but he could breathe a little easier seeing the determination in Ford’s eyes that told him his husband was done listening to the likes of Bill Cipher. 

Fidds stared at the sea of broken glass his husband wouldn’t let him near with no shoes on wondering if this is what would become of his dreams, all because of him. 

Once the glass was cleared up Ford left the lab leaving Fidds behind as he sat at his desk, taping his blue prints back together. He kept telling himself and his husband it was all salvageable in his best impression of being hopeful. In a way he was, Bill was gone for now, at least for a little while, they could finally work in peace. 

He went looking for his husband as his eyes grew tired and he only longed to sleep. He frowned finding him in the kitchen. 

Ford stood leaning over the sink, just staring at the skeleton of his future institution. Fidds felt guilt flaring inside him, it was his fault that dream may be dead and its rotting corpse would always loom over them, forever casting a shadow over their lives. 

He walked forward, pushing back every burst of anxiety, Ford sacrificed so much just for him, the least he could do is stand by him. He pressed himself against his husband and kissed his ear lobe whispering an apology. 

Ford said nothing, reaching one hand back to stroke the hair ticking against his cheek now, eyes never leaving the structure. 

“We’re smarter then him,” he said firmly, “We’ll work something out.” 

He turned his head away from the structure before slamming the curtains shut in frustration, making Fidds jump. He pulled him close to him and kissed his nose in apology, leading him back out of the kitchen to head back to bed. 

Taking a glance back at the moonlight still creeping into the kitchen and shadowed outline of his legacy before shaking his head and assuring his husband they hadn’t failed just yet. 

“What’s a little more time, dearest?”


End file.
